Coloring Books, Zen, and the Richmond Palladium & Sun-Telegram

Julie Beck, The Zen of Adult Coloring Books, The Atlantic, November 4, 2015, courtesy of the Atlantic.

Adult coloring books are everywhere right now! Nielson Bookscan reported the sale of over 15 million adult coloring books last year alone. It’s more than a fad, according to the Washington Post; It is closer to self-guided art therapy. Coloring books have helped adults to relieve stress and practice mindfulness, as well as deal with grief and improve motor skills after illness of accident.

While working to digitize the Richmond Palladium & Sun-Telegram from 1916, we noticed that on page four each day there was a small line drawing. Some days the drawings were comments on news events or social issues, but often they were just decorative. We thought they were perfect for coloring.

So print out the drawings below and get coloring! You just might feel better.

While we jumped on the coloring train, we weren’t the first to propose coloring newspaper pages. In fact, the very newspaper we were looking at beat us to it! In the Junior Palladium, an insert in the Saturday edition, sometimes included images for kids to color:

Richmond Palladium Sun-Telegram, June 19, 1916, 10.

Some ads we spotted would make great coloring pages too, like this one for corsets with the Indiana State House in the background:

Richmond Palladium Sun-Telegram, April 12, 1916, 6.

Have you spotted others that would work? Let us know on Twitter: @HS_Chronicles